'Wonder Woman' Powering To Super $550+ Million This Weekend

Another weekend, another big performance by Warner's latest superhero blockbuster Wonder Woman. After opening much higher than expectations and then enjoying one of the best second weekend holds of any superhero film in history, Patty Jenkins' critically acclaimed DCU picture continues to enjoy strong audience word of mouth and repeat business carrying it toward an expected worldwide cume of roughly $550+/- million by close of business Sunday.

The team pose for a famous photo in Warner's "Wonder Woman"

Source: Warner Bros

Adding an extra boost to the international totals, Wonder Woman has openings in Germany, Switzerland, Norway, and the Netherlands this weekend. Those receipts plus indications of solid holds in return markets and limited competition from other films suggest a strong $70+ million global total this weekend, after the film enters finishes the Monday-through-Thursday dates at somewhere between $480-485 million.

Lower-end estimates still gets the Amazonian princess to around $540 million, while higher-end potential could push it north of $560 million, particularly if other films already in the market slide even worse than anticipated -- a very real possibility, which we've seen play out several times already this summer. I'm expecting Wonder Woman to put up final worldwide numbers in the $555 million range after the dust settles this weekend.

Robin Wright does righteous battle in Warner's "Wonder Woman."

Source: Warner Bros

A lot will depend on two key factors: how much Cars 3 eats into the family demographics, and how many female audience members opt for the comedy Rough Night despite mixed reviews so far. But with so much love still in the air for Wonder Woman, it's possible for those new entries in the marketplace to find their own audience without detracting from Wonder Woman's ability to still put up big third weekend numbers. Last weekend, it topped the second weekend numbers for Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad despite those films opening higher than Wonder Woman. Considering that both of those films wound up north of $800 million and $700 million, respectively, and with Gal Gadot's superhero already headed for $550+/- million on its third weekend, it's inevitable that we're going to see a final Wonder Woman tally well north of $600 million and very possibly in the $700 million range.

Interestingly, if Wonder Woman takes $35+ million domestic as expected this weekend, it will top the third weekend total for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, which sits above $835 million worldwide and still could have another $15 million to go before it finishes its run. The fact is, there are really only a few new releases on the horizon that really look likely to eventually cut more into Wonder Woman's weekly holds, and even then they'll probably merely send it closer to the more typical declines rather than actually causing steep drops. One is Transformers: The Last Knight arriving June 21, another is Despicable Me 3 on June 30, and then there's Spider-Man: Homecoming swinging into theaters July 7. And keep in mind, there are still several new markets for Wonder Woman to conquer in the coming weeks, including a key opening in Japan in July.

Our hero in action on the streets of London in Warner's "Wonder Woman"

Source: Warner Bros

These latest numbers and future weekly prospects lead me to think Wonder Woman's most realistic low-end final cume is somewhere around $670+/- million. The high-end seems to be somewhere around $700+/- million, depending on how well it plays in Japan. So a decent mid-range, moderate estimate looks to be about $685 million, for now. But whichever of those numbers winds up being closer to the truth, one thing seems certain -- Wonder Woman will be one of the top-5 grossing films of 2017 by the final week of June, if not sooner. In light of Transformers: The Last Knight entering the arena this month, Wonder Woman could get knocked out of the top 5 around the end of June, and will certainly inevitably get passed by Transformers down the line, but has a very good shot at remaining one of the year's top-10 releases overall.

But let's be clear, wherever the final cume comes down and no matter its final spot on the year-end box office charts, as of this weekend Wonder Woman has already had a fantastic run and is a huge success. That it's definitely topping $600 million is even better, and so nobody will be complaining about the final worldwide total.

Wonder Woman, Steve Trevor, and their team in Warner's "Wonder Woman"

Source: Warner Bros

Also important to remember is that women were the majority audience, something a lot of pundits and more than a few resentful male fans insisted wouldn't happen. A female-led action movie with a female director has soared to enormous box office, riding a wave of majority-female viewership. There's simply no excuse for Hollywood or entertainment journalists or fans to ignore those facts, and no excuse for the future of superhero cinema to remain as male-dominated in front of and behind the cameras as it has been in the past.

We'll continue to assess Wonder Woman's box office run and all that it represents, so check back for frequent updates.